Beach City '90
by VSA Fic
Summary: Stories about life before Steven.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I am unashamed Steven Universe trash. An official landmark of indication for me falling too deep into a fandom is writing fanfiction, so here I am, touching that landmark. I'm in too deep.**

**My mind has been constantly daydreaming about the relationship Greg and Rose had. I imagine it being in the middle of the '90s, with a soundtrack of classic rock, and band rehearsals near the temple, and general Greg wonder at the world of the Gems.**

**So then I started making it... a thing. If this somehow keeps going, it's just gonna be a lot of oneshots connected between each other. And a little more mature than the source material because... I don't know. I like to tone things up. Deal with me here.  
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**Bleh. No more rambling.**

* * *

><p>They made a strange group, sitting there at the most popular bar in the city.<p>

The bar was strange for them, too. It had been Rose. Rose Quartz had told them all to try it. As she did always, with every human thing that caught her attention. She always brought it to the temple and insisted they tried it, or dragged them to wherever it was.

It was about as human as it could get: Humans sitting, drinking beverages that made them tipsy and caused them to trip on the floor, trip with their own shoelaces, trip with other dizzy people who had drank too much. Humans singing out of tune along the rock music that other humans performed atop a stage. Humans banging their heads to the sound. Humans tending to the humans who drank. Humans. Humans everywhere.

Pretty much the paradise for the permanently observant Rose Quartz, who was fascinated by them, who sought to keep up with the customs they changed with such speed that they, the Crystal Gems, were never in the newest wave of things.

Rose _was_ in the newest wave of things. Mostly. The rest of them didn't care.

Rose had been entranced staring at the human in the lead vocal and guitar. She watched him move along the stage, waving his hands at the public sometimes, causing them to sing along. He was such a performer of that era.

He was watching her, too. And he smiled. And Rose wanted to smile back at him, but the feeling of connection with a human was strange every single time. Just the age difference…

They watched each other, flashing mutual, sly smiles, back and forth, until the band stopped performing, until the stage lights went off.

Rose was pretty sure she was never seeing the guy again, but she was terribly wrong.

"I like music of this era," she said, after the band left. "Has something that the other music didn't have."

"You always like the music of the newest era," a pale, tall Gem responded. She was sitting close to an even _taller_, rouge-skinned Gem. Close together. Almost in contact if not quite.

It was a good time for those two.

"Meanwhile," she added, smug. "I've always stuck by classical."

The sole short member of the squad laughed. She and the classical music fan stuck out like a sore thumb among the crowd of humans, but the shorter Gem even more so. Rose had only seen a human once that was as white as Pearl was. They had a skin condition, though.

But there were no humans like the shorter Gem. Purple humans didn't exist.

"That is," the purple Gem said, leaning back into her seat. "Because you're stuck up like humans were back then. You, like, found your kind. All fancy and boring. Sounds much like you."

"It's not suck up, Amethyst," Pearl responded, mildly frustrated. "Classical music is just beautiful. Has something… Like it tells stories, like it's full of messages to share. Nothing you'd understand. And," she leaned back into the taller-than-her, darker Gem to her side. "I'm probably more fun than you. Garnet says so." She eyed the Gem against her.

And it was that Gem who spoke. "I'm neutral in your discussions." She pushed her shades up.

Rose chimed in. "Well, I like all music humans make, and I like it when they make new music. I like new music because they improve as time goes by, you know? Gem music took forever to change, but they always have new stuff to show and it keeps getting better."

Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

All Gems were silent. They had sought no human interaction. They incrusted their sight in the human in an apron, as if silently asking her to leave.

"Miss?" She looked at Rose smugly. "Mr. Universe sent me here. Said he wanted to give you a drink."

Rose pointed at herself. "Me? A drink?"

The human nodded. "Just order what you want, miss, and he'll pay for it. Simple as that."

Rose turned to the group, nervously stirring one of her fingers in one of the messy pink curls flowing from her head. She was begging for help. They didn't have human drinks. They didn't drink. Rejecting the strange human seemed to be out of the question, too. They had to be polite. They had to blend in.

A waiter had dropped drink menus long ago on the table, and they had been forgotten, being that none of them really wanted to drink. They didn't need to.

The curly Gem scanned the menu, clueless. She ordered the first thing she could find. "I'll have a… um… a Bar Bomb."

The waitress laughed. "Taking risks, are we?"

Eyes that were obviously confused were her only answer. She took the menus that had been forgotten by the customers and crew and headed to the bar, readying the, unbeknownst to Rose, explosive alcohol order.

"Do humans offer drinks as an act of courtship?" She asked quickly, her gaze drifting between all Gems. "Do you know? Garnet?"

Garnet was lazily tracing circles on Pearl's shoulder. She had been looking at her, through the shades, the whole time. "I don't know." She pointed at Rose with her free hand. "You know. You know about humans."

"Come on, you guys! You have no idea?"

Pearl and Amethyst shrugged.

"Oh no, and now I don't know what I ordered. I have never drunk a Bar Bomb. I have drunk wine. Some early beer, back in the 1500s. But what the heck is a Bar Bomb?"

"So why didn't you just order, like, a beer?" Amethyst asked.

"I panicked. And now I have to drink that thing. And I don't know if the human means to—" She interrupted herself. She scanned the bar crowd. Then she spotted _him_.

He was sitting a few tables over with his band. He was looking at her. He was smiling. He was waving back.

"Oh no," Rose whispered, snapping back to the group. "He means to court me."

She looked at him with the corner of her eye. Amethyst smiled, sitting across Rose and getting a far better view of the human. "Oh, look at him, man. He's turning to his friends— Man, he's talking about you. He's smiling. Oops. He likes you."

"This is terrible," Rose said, rubbing her temples.

"It is not as big of a deal as you put it to be," Pearl said. "You make it seem like we've never had humans among out peers."

"You have courted humans before, Rose," Garnet remarked. Her fingers were still tracing various figures in Pearl's arm.

"Yes! Yes." The curly woman smashed her hands on the table. "Let's talk about the— Let's talk about the part in which I tell him that I'm an alien that is fifteen thousand years old. Let's talk about the part in which he knows we're stones with humanlike body projections."

The purple Gem flicked her lilac hair. "Pfft, you can just have a casual fling and never get to that part. You look like a human enough. Hey, say," she smiled. "Why don't you go talk to him and see what he wants?"

Rose turned an even deeper shade of pink. "What?"

Pearl nodded. "I agree with Rose. He's just a feeble human who can play human instruments and no more. There's no reason to interact with him."

Amethyst groaned. "I swear, Pearl, you're no fun ever. Be yourself, man."

The pastel Gem, who had been relaxing as Garnet ran her hands through her short blonde hair, suddenly stood up. Her hands balled into fists and crashed against the table, much like Rose's hands had before. "Oh? I'm no fun?" She groaned, tilting her neck and making it crack. "You know what, I'm tired of your 'you're no fun'. I am fun. I'm going to show you who's fun." She rolled the sleeves of her leather jacket until they rested at elbow level. "Go talk to the human, Rose."

The chubby, curly woman's eyes shot open. "What? But you just said—"

"You just go talk to the _goddamn_ human," Pearl repeated, pointing at the faraway table.

"Yeah!" Amethyst blared. "That's how I like it! Talk to the hu-man! Talk to the hu-man!"

The pastel Gem began making a chorus to the purple Gem's cheer, and Rose turned to Garnet, desperate to be stopped from shaming herself with her alien ways in front of the young, admittedly attractive man. "Garnet, tell me you're not with them. Please, I haven't courted with humans in Geode knows how long. And he's courting."

Garnet shrugged a bit. But she was smiling. She puffed the sides of her cubic 'fro a bit. "I don't particularly care about the consequences of _your_ decisions."

_"__Talk to the hu-man! Talk to the hu-man!"_

"You were my only hope, Garnet."

An almost imperceptible giggle escaped the dark Gem's thick lips.

"Okay!" Rose whined. "I'm gonna talk to the human. Curses to you. All your fault. And I'm never doing it again."

She stood up fiercely, and made huge strides of determination towards the table.

* * *

><p>"Hey, lady," was the first thing the human said. "My friends and I were just talking about you."<p>

Rose mentally cursed for, despite her knowledge of humanity, never managing to sound like one of them in conversation. None of them ever truly did. They stammered. They said inappropriate things without knowing. All humans that had fell for Rose had eventually known the causes for all the awkwardness mixed in with her natural charm.

"Hey," she said, trying to recall anything she had heard in mundane conversation when she went out to explore the city. "Funny. My friends and I were talking about you, too."

The man laughed. He had shoulder-length, black hair. He sported a goatee. He wore a leather jacket much like Pearl did, ever since her personal liberation in the '70s. Dark glasses, up to the current fashions, framed his eyes and obscured them from Rose's sight. There was no way she could know what he was thinking.

"I guess that's a step I have closer to fame, then," he said, and took a swig from a can of beer in his hand. "You know, you get famous when folks talk about you."

Rose had nothing to say to that. "Guess you're right." _Awkward_.

The man seemed to overlook her discomfort, or if he did notice it, he tried to soothe it by being as smooth as he could possibly be without sliding off his chair. "You know, your friends and you make quite the group here. Never seen people like you. You're strange."

Thoughts about Amethyst's natural purple-ness flashed in the curly Gem's mind. She wasn't supposed to know if that was a compliment. What did the man think of the huge rose quartz on her abdomen, visible as is supposed to be with a Crystal Gem's gemstone?

"I like weird people. That's the life of a rocker, of the people who come here, you know? We aren't what other people are, with their cleanliness and their social norms. We're different. And you and your crew are different _even_ here between all these different people."

He took another swig. Rose's fingers were fumbling. "I like you, girl. Do you like rock?"

"I was recently introduced to it," she started. It was a half-lie. She had only known rock for thirty of her 15,000 years of life, but then again, she had known rock when rock was _invented_. "But, you know? I like it. I like the music…" She had to mentally rephrase that, so she didn't just spit out _"You humans_" in front of them. That'd just blow it. "I like the music people make, and this new music, with all the electric guitars, and the different vocals, and the electronic sounds… So different from all the music. I really dig it."

The guy smiled, and she chose to dot her sentence with a "by the way, nice performance up there."

"Thank you," the guy responded. He seemed pleased. "Gotta give the patrons a good show. You know, one day I'm not gonna be playing at bars and small gigs. I'm gonna be making records. And I'm gonna remember talking to you right here about how good-weird you are."

Was everything he had just said supposed to flatter her? She didn't understand this form of flattery. It seemed so subtle, so hidden among layers of other content. She wasn't sure of what to say.

"What was your favorite song?"

She smiled. "Definitely that one about the rock… and the lobster. Really nice guitar there! And the lyrics were so… unique."

"_Rock Lobster_? The man said, stifling a laugh. Oh yeah, B-52s, all '70s and '80s rock. I listened to them when I was younger. Back before I really started to try and be a musician myself."

"Well… Nice one," the Gem responded, unsure of how else to keep the conversation going. "I'm sure you're going to be a great musician someday. Who knows, maybe I'll buy your records."

The man smiled. It was a genuine, if flirty, smile. He was liking her. He was liking her even more. And oddly, hearing him here, talking of his aspirations, and how he liked rock, and how he liked outcasts… He didn't seem like a bad guy. Not anything she'd court, but likable enough for a conversation. Even if she was unsure of how to approach it.

"I saw you got a Bar Bomb," He said. "You like living life to the extreme, huh?"

It wasn't like that was a lie. She did slay monsters for a living. She didn't understand what that had to do with the drink, however. She was wondering _what exactly_ she had ordered.

"Kind of," she answered, oddly comfortable that she was saying the truth.

The man was about to reply, when a bandmate tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, and what Rose remembered was the drummer whispered to his ear.

Just then, he turned to her. "Listen, lady, my boys and I have to go now. All about not staying up that late so we can rehearse and all that."

"Okay," Rose said. "Goodbye." That _was_ the key word for humans bidding farewell. There was nothing left to say.

"Wait, wait!" he exclaimed. "Can you make a little promise? For me?"

Rose was mildly confused, as promises were only supposed to be made for people you had a connection to. "What exactly?"

"Promise me you'll be here tomorrow again. We'll be performing here all week. Heck, took you a little long to get to my table, but we can have all night to talk after the show. And I can get you more drinks." She was sure that had to be a wink under his glasses that she couldn't see.

She wanted to say no. She wanted to never have to feel awkward around a human like him again.

But there was a primal impulse on the guts of her projected body. "Okay. I'll try my best."

"Now that's how you do business, lady." He laughed. "Say, I never asked your name."

"Rose," she answered. At least that was an easy one. "Rose Quartz."

"See, even your name is weird. Never saw someone with the last name Quartz." He offered his hand, grinning from ear to ear.

Rose, remembering what she had observed, gingerly grabbed the hand in the correct way. It was hot, and mildly sticky. Not exactly all that great.

"Nice to meet you, Rose Quartz. You see, I have a weird last name too. Name's Greg. Greg Universe."

Rose couldn't hold back a smirk. "I thought the Mr. Universe thing was just because you liked space, or something like that. I know I like space." She wished she could have added a _I come from space, haha, _but it was quite obviously better to restrict it.

"Hah, unfortunately, that's just the last name I was born with. Space is cool, though. Space photos make awesome album covers."

He stood up, letting go of the Gem's hand after shaking it a bit. "Well it is time for me to go, Rose. But see you tomorrow. Don't fail me, ok? Bye."

She nodded. "I'll try. Goodbye."

As he walked away, he turned around for just one split second, while she was still observing, and he bid farewell with one last remark. "Hey, Rose? I love your hair. And I'm really digging that bellybutton piercing you got there."

Then, he had just left.

* * *

><p>When she went to sit with the peers of her correspondent species, the Bar Bomb was already sitting, awaiting her, on the table. It almost glowed menacingly, the lights of the bar drawing menacing sparkles from it and the glass it was contained when they hit its glossy surface.<p>

It wasn't the center of attention, though. Her peers observed her, one question on their eyes. It wasn't like she was unwilling to answer. They had drawn her into it.

"So, how was it?" Amethyst started. "Was he weird? Cool? Cool-weird? Awkward like about, eighty percent of humans or so?"

"It _was_ weird," Rose highlighted. She quickly shook her hands, signing them to not interrupt her. "But not because of the guy. I haven't been so _close_ to humans in so long, I didn't know what to say, and you know how strange they act when you talk like older generations used to."

There was no answer, and Rose became bashful. "The human was actually quite smooth talking. Also, I'm in trouble now."

The question didn't escape anyone's lips, but Rose knew it was there. "Because… I kinda… Told the human I'd come to see him again tomorrow. He said he would buy me drinks, and… I don't- I don't know how he did it. But now I have to come back again tomorrow." It seemed to suddenly dawn on her. She put her face between her hands. "Oh, no, what have I done."

Pearl, to the surprise of them, laughed. "Oh, my!" she said, actual… _mischief_ in her voice. "How quick are you to make commitment! I would like a tape of the type of conversation the humans and you will engage in tomorrow. You have to promise you will come. If only so we can laugh at you later." She eyed Amethyst. She was obviously waiting for a certificate that she was 'fun'. Rose couldn't help but understand her— She was trying to be free.

Amethyst was _beaming_. "P knows where it's at!" She said, a roar of laughter following the statement. "You liked him, huh? You liked the human."

Pearl chimed in. "You liked the human enough to subject yourself to a second visit."

Garnet smirked. "You liked him enough to receive his courtship drink."

"Stop!" Rose whined, turning pink. "I was being polite. The human was doing an offering, I didn't want to be rude, I didn't want to start a fight. Now, I don't even know what I will do with this."

The purple Gem shrugged. "You gotta drink it."

"No, I can't do it. Everyone keeps calling me reckless when I tell them I ordered this thing. I'm not sure about what it is. It must be very strong. I don't want it."

A sly grin spread on the pastel Gem's face. "Oh? So the expenses of the human go to waste?" That made Rose reflect. He must have paid for the drink after the order and before they conversed. "You will just reject it after he spent his money? You know how important money is to humans, even if we don't understand it so well."

The curly Gem could practically _feel_ Pearl liberating herself with all the teasing and the relaxed behavior. Now, she wished the pastel Gem was in her previous, stuck up form, if only so she left her alone.

The rouge Gem interrupted her thoughts. "The human offered you a gift. Now you must consume it."

"Augh, fine!" Rose exclaimed, exasperated. If it was for her, she could just accidentally drop the drink. "I'll drink the stupid thing. Maybe you will stop teasing me about my dumb decision to converse with a human?"

"No, babe," Amethyst said. "It won't stop until tomorrow, when you see him again."

The other two were stifling giggles. Rose was mortified. She angrily gripped the glass in one swift motion and gulped it down aggressively.

The regret settled just a second afterwards.

The alcohol burned her form as it coursed it. Intense heat exploded in her innards. It was as if something had set a fire inside her—

It was as if a bomb had exploded.

Well, that certainly explained the name.

A fit of coughing followed this brief reflection. Her throat was on fire. She needed something cold. She needed to be saved. She looked up to her fellow Gems for aid.

They were laughing. Rose wanted to summon a vine so she could strangle them, but no— not in front of the humans.

That would have to wait until the temple.

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><p><strong>Final AN: whether or not this keeps going heavily depends on how motivated I am and how good the reception for this thing is.**

**It'll most likely go on because sometimes I don't want to draw or think, so I just write.**

**Eh.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Took the second chapter down for a very necessary rewrite. Have an important oneshot set in the 70s that I am plenty more satisfied with.**

**Some cursing ahead!**

* * *

><p>Beach City, somewhere in the 1970s<p>

They were alone. That made Pearl uncomfortable. It was fine being alone with Garnet. She would strike a conversation with Rose if they were alone. But being alone with _Amethyst_ was something else.

It was strange. It was a heavy silence, sometimes shattered for small talk, permanently charged with the faint electricity of layers upon layers of interactions, friendships, fights, and nearly romantic encounters that had occurred for the nearly seven thousand years they had known each other for.

They had fought. They had chatted. They had fun. They had kissed, like, twice.

Being so close and so far to someone was always strange. It was to her as if Amethyst was something she could say a few words to, but she could never touch or explore the town with. Some ethereal being that she could communicate with, but never know fully.

And the silence of the temple, the lack of noises of Garnet training or Rose chattering with the bubbled Gems about her day, it was heaving on her.

When Amethyst said she was going to the beach, she didn't know why she followed. It made her self-conscious, the sharp contrast they had as they walked to the beach: Amethyst wearing a shirt, sleeves rolled up until the elbow, rugged jeans, leather vest, knee-level leather boots, while all _she_ wore was a flower pattern dress that seemed stuck on two decades ago. They seemed as if they shouldn't have been walking together.

She didn't know why she followed, but there she sat, next to her, mere inches from the waves touching her feet. She was barefoot. She liked the feeling of the sand on the soles of her feet.

In that exact moment, while they sat there, she felt the silence heave more than ever. Every second was a sensation, as if she could feel time passing against her skin.

The other gem had a pack of cigarettes. She didn't understand why—She didn't indulge in humans' intoxicating behaviors. She knew she was technically immune to the nicotine, her organism incapable of being affected by the substances humans poisoned themselves with. She didn't see what the appeal of it was, without the addiction to keep you hooked.

Amethyst didn't light a cigarette, though. She just fiddled with the box, opening and closing the lid. _Thank you_, the pastel gem thought.

"So," the purple gem said, turning to look at her. And she was grinning— She was grinning like _that_, like _that one_ grin she always did when she was about to tap dance on Pearl's nerves. The bitterness set instantly in the blonde's innards. "Time traveler, how was life twenty years ago? Care to tell this youngster about the customs of the '50s?"

It was a jab at her dress. The pastel gem groaned. "Amethyst, when are you going to stop teasing my tastes? Rose has said many times we are all supposed to find our personal style, our own form of dressing, our own music preferences—"

And she was interrupted. By a loud whine.

She was just expecting another jab. The purple gem would then ask her how long she had lived, how meeting Bach had been. Pearl would groan and she would stand up, telling her to come back to the temple, and that yes, _obviously_ she had lived for long, because they _all _had lived for long, even if Amethyst was the youngest. She would then isolate herself in her chamber, cleaning and rearranging the swords, fighting against the hologram, maybe, waiting until Garnet returned and embraced her. She would be sad, and she would ask herself why Amethyst and her could never talk like companions. Like friends.

But that didn't happen.

When they made eye contact again, Amethyst was dead serious.

"Tell me, P," she started, her voice somehow transmitting frustration, and a dash of pain, to the pastel gem. "Why don't you ever just… Relax? Be yourself? In all these years, have you ever had _fun_?"

She was ready to retaliate. "Your concept of fun and mine are quite different. Training is fun. Maintaining the temple's beauty intact is fun. Sword fighting is fun—"

"Fucking Garnet is fun?" Amethyst said, _the one_ grin splattered all over her face.

"_Amethyst!_" Pearl shrieked, the same way she would shriek _Steven!_ Thirty years later. "You are _not _ involved in my intimacy with—"

"Just Relax!" The purple gem yelled, drowning the other's complaint.

And just then, she was serious again, and Pearl was honestly puzzled.

"Come on, P. Not everything is serious. Not everything wants to harm you. C'mere." She scooted closer to Pearl. "Tell me something. Jab at my outfit."

"That would be disrespectful."

"I just told you you looked like an old woman. Come on. There must be something _ugly_ here to your stuck-up eyes. Jab at my outfit."

Pearl rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the zing. "Amethyst, as much as we digress in opinions, I do not feel I must assume this immaturely—"

"Insult my goddamn outfit, _man!_" She whined, frustrated.

Pearl did not understand, but at this point, she knew better than try and stop her.

"Well…" She thought of it for a second. She looked at the outfit. It was definitely not suited to her tastes. The jeans were awful. The boots were damaged from repeated usage. The leather vest had patches here and there where the shiny outer coat was peeling off.

She looked like a _hobo_.

"Well," she repeated. "I may look like an old woman, but at least I don't look like a hobo."

Amethyst, who had been eyeing the small cardboard box in her hands, turned to look at her. Her eyes were _sparkling_.

She roared the Trademark Amethyst Laugh, slapping her thigh. Her elbow lightly jabbed Pearl's side. "That was perfect, man! You're right, I look like a hobo!"

She… Was not offended. At all. The pastel gem could not believe it.

"You see? I know, man. I know I look like a hobo. So I don't get angry when you tell me that. I laugh."

She was smiling, but Pearl thought for a split second—There they were, speaking, and the other gem was not teasing her, but talking to her. _Really _talking to her.

"P, have you ever gone out to drink a beer? Have you ever danced in a supermarket? Or are you always trying to be all—" she struck a pose, hand with the box in her hip, the other hand in the Trademark Fancy Person Pose. "—_dignified_?"

"I… Do not like those things," Pearl said.

But she wasn't sure if she was saying the truth.

For once in a thousand years, she was unsure that she was right. Her armor was cracking.

The purple gem was opening up, and in this situation, in this extreme slowness, in this hyper perception of the sparkles in the sea and each grain of salt under her feet, in the judging, almost romantic silver light of the moon,

She was being forced out of her shell.

"Have you ever _tried_ it? At least?" The quartz gem continued. "Or are you afraid… That people will judge you? How can you know it's not fun if you've never done it?"

The pastel gem felt like something inside her was breaking.

She was right.

She had never done those things, flagging them as immature without a second glance, proving them unworthy and inferior without a personal dip.

She was thankful for the noises of the ocean, for her own silence was such a boulder in her soul she almost felt physically pushed down.

"I… Have never," she admitted, her head lowering in shame.

"Have you ever tried using leather? Open blouses? Knee length boots? Hot pants?"

"No."

"And you— Not the Pearl who tries to impress everyone. _You_. The _real_ P under that stuck-up shell. True Pearl. Would True Pearl like to try it?"

The response was silence.

Pearl's hands were to her sides, supporting her, and a purple hand drifted over to the pale fingers, caressing them gingerly.

Despite her discomfort, the blonde saved this moment as precious. Intimate, if not romantic. Close. Private.

"Who're you trying to impress, P?" Amethyst continued, her voice now soft and comforting. "Why are you trying to prove you're flawless and mature? You're not flawless and mature, man. Nobody is. Humans ain't. Gems ain't. And you and I are the youngest Gems of the bunch. We're even less mature. We're young, man, we can try things, we can go out, we can mess around.

Is it Garnet? You wanna be mature for Garnet? Let me tell ya, man, I've talked to Garnet, and she's so… I don't even know how to say this. She cares for you _so goddamn much_. I don't think she'll mind if you mess up."

Blue eyes were lost in the motion of the waves. "You're right."

That drew a smile out of the purple gem. "So, don't you wanna try fun? Fun that isn't mature, fun that is pulling down someone's pants in public, fun that is singing out of tune in a karaoke? Like that fun?"

It was True Amethyst saying that. And despite Outer Pearl insisting it was by all means incorrect— Something inside of True Pearl pulled her forward, towards this bunch of experiences she had never indulged in living.

"Yes," she said. And with that word, she felt like something had broken.

She was now _free_.

Or so, she thought, she would try to be from now on.

"You wanna start now?" the gem with lilac hair proposed, the first, sly grin smugly placing itself on her mouth. "Here. Check this out."

Pearl, glad that they were back to their regular selves, checked the random point in the sea the other was pointing at.

Next thing she knew, she was swallowing a mouthful of sea water.

She spat out the water and gasped instantly, screaming. "_Amethyst—!"_

"No! No, no, no!" The other interrupted. "Don't— Don't say _anything_, man. Just do it. Splash me in the face. Come on. Give it back."

Unsure, and slightly baffled, Pearl sank her hand in the cold, shallow water, and pushed it upwards. It splashed square on Amethyst's face, and soon enough, she was making motions to get rid of it too.

Pearl felt a vibration explode in her stomach at Amethyst's hilarious face, she felt something expand and hit her throat —

She was laughing. She was laughing with _her_. They were both laughing, together.

Of course, she retaliated, dropping the cigarette box she held in the sand and using both hands to splash a wave in Pearl's general direction. The humidity against the dress' fabric was cold, and with the fresh breeze of the night, she knew she would be shivering were she to get any more soaked.

But for once, she didn't care. She just responded, staining Amethyst's shirt with damp spots.

Laughing.

* * *

><p>When the warp pad lightened up and Garnet and Rose entered the temple, they found the other two coursing a magazine of human clothing. Rose used those magazines often as references for attires the four could use. They just looked around and copied what they liked— It was effective, it made the clothes customizable, and most importantly, no money trade was involved. They had been doing the observation-imitation technique almost since they had been on Earth. That didn't stop Rose from trying to make material clothes, though, and the four of them did have some actual human clothing in their chambers.<p>

"There's no way I'm wearing those things! They cling to my derriere and show off my legs!"

"Exactly! With that killer butt and those ballerina legs, you're gonna _rock_ hot pants! Just trust me, man. Everyone will love it. You have the body for this stuff, like Garnet with those killer thighs and that perfect ass. Man, Garnet was _built_ for hot pants—"

"I am glad you find me attractive," The rouge gem said, only now stepping into the common room of the temple they were hanging out at, catching that last bit of conversation. "But I'm taken." The faintest trace of a smug smile danced on her lips.

Amethyst flushed purple in .03 seconds. Pearl was shining such a bright shade of blue she was surprised it wasn't reflected in all the crystals sprouting from the floor and ceiling.

"Oh, man, you weren't supposed to hear that. I was just trying to give P here the confidence to wear some hot pants."

"Hot pants would look good on you," Garnet said, not smiling any further, nor returning to her usual expression, simply smirking. The blonde was shocked to find she could actually become even _bluer_.

Garnet didn't stick around for long, but she did do a last remark as she continued the trek to her room. "Maybe, after overhearing this observation, I might get some hot pants."

The mental image was branded with fire in Pearl's conscious. She covered her hands with her face, radiating heat. The blush had expanded all the way up to her ears.

* * *

><p>Next day, when Pearl stepped out of her chambers and into the common room, she got some stares. Rose just looked at her in wide-eyed wonder. She flaunted her way in, trying to rock her hips a bit with each stride, making a ballerina twirl as she showed off her new choice of outfit.<p>

A tie dye shirt was her choice of top, light blue with a big mint green swirl spiraling into the center. High waisted, black leather hot pants wrapped her derriere nicely, showing off her blessed slim, toned ballerina legs wrapped in silky black pantyhose. Leather boots reached up to her knees, and a black leather jacket finished the look.

She looked _killer_.

Rose had stopped braiding Amethyst's hair without realizing to gaze at Pearl's new look, and believing herself to have acted in an imprudent manner, she cleared her throat and looked down. "Good morning, Pearl," she said, trying to not make a direct reference to her looks. "You look… Different today."

"You look good," Garnet sprouted out as on instinct, the firm grasp on her book lost.

Amethyst was grinning from ear to ear. "You look fucking fantastic, man! What a sense of fashion!"

Pear straightened herself, pleased with the reactions. She twirled a bit, directly for everyone to see, indirectly to do so just for Garnet. "I believed, since a very important conversation with Amethyst yesterday," Rose's eyes lightened up at that claim. She would need to be hearing this. "That I could try a bit of a new look… For myself. The hot pants were mostly her suggestion, but after some personal observation, you know what?" She gave an elegant smile. "My ass looks perfect in this." She giggled, how vulgar, how rude that had just been! How _freeing_.

Garnet's cheeks became slightly redder, which was fortunately hidden well enough by her dark skin. Amethyst hollered. "You go, girl! That's how you dress! That's how you talk! Don't you feel happy?"

Pearl was _beaming_. She looked down, at herself. She appreciated the way the top wrapped her figure, the way the hot pants highlighted her rear, the way the pantyhose enveloped her slender legs. Yes, she was happy. This was so much more current, so much more liberating than the flower dresses she used to condemn herself to. She started machinating in her head a way to give a 70s touch to her previous outfits.

"Yes, I am happy," she said, feeling it genuinely fill her. "Say, Rose," she added, turning to the curly gem, who had returned to her task of braiding the lilac hair before her. "You think you could spike my hair after you're done?"

* * *

><p><strong>Final AN: I am churning out one of these daily, and I'm kind of honestly pleased with it. I hope you enjoyed it too. There's gonna be silliness, and drama, and some romance. If I continue, that is. *laughs***


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: And so, here I continue. I've been on a writing mood, even moreso than drawing. I've been churning out oneshots like there's no tomorrow.**

**Apologies if these are sort of raw- I have no pre-reader, and I don't have the time these days to get myself one, or edit my chapters very heavily. As such, they're posted after a brief proofread. Don't be afraid to point out things I can improve on. I myself have noticed some repetitive language and typos. I tried to check better for them in this one, but I'm sorry if they're still present.**

* * *

><p>"So, you insist that you don't like the human, but meanwhile, you ready yourself in the latest human fashions and braid your hair and tie it in a ponytail because the human is coming over," Pearl teased, smug, half-closed eyes scrutinizing Rose.<p>

"Not to mention, this is about the twentieth time you meet with him," Garnet added, the corners of her lips pulling up _just a little, _just enough to let her know she was expecting a reaction.

Rose's face heated up. "Look, he's just my friend, okay? I can have human friends. Just as long I don't mess with their social norms, we're fine. I just like hanging out with Greg. It's not really relevant that he likes to pick me up and take me to his performances… Or that he knows where we live." She bit her lower lip. That was all they were, right? She didn't like him at all. It was hard for her to get so used to a human she could develop romantic feelings for them. It didn't happen that often.

Right?

"He's coming here to pick you up," Amethyst said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "He has picked you up since like the third time."

"He takes you to all his performances," Pearl said.

"He always hands you courtship drinks," Garnet murmured.

"I mean, man, at least it's obvious _he_ likes _you_." The purple gem lazily flipped through the punk fashion magazine, eyeing a thing or two with gusto.

"He does it," Rose said nonchalantly, giving some final touch-ups to her hair. "Because he is my friend, and he knows it's a long walk to where he goes." It was a blatant lie on her part. She knew Greg had liked her since day one, and she was unsure of her own feelings for the young rockstar. Of course, that was something the other Gems couldn't know. _After the way we met_, she told herself, if only to keep herself convinced. _They would tease me mercilessly_.

"Except for those times where he doesn't take you to concerts, but to have dinner somewhere. Or that one time he took you to this totally cool joint he knew so you were alone together. Or that other time—"

"Look, I get it, okay?" Rose interrupted angrily. "He does nice things for me. That doesn't change at all that we're just friends. Pals do nice things for each other. He's my friend, and he will be no more."

A sudden echo banged around the walls of the crystal room, and Rose yelped. A sensation not unlike the fluttering of butterflies exploded and expanded through her belly. "Oh Geode," she said, almost whispering. "He's here."

"Oh my!" Amethyst yelled, the one grin of teasing plastered on her face. "I take it someone's happy?"

Pearl couldn't resist. "Your knight has arrived in a white horse to rescue you! Are you eager?"

"Remember, it has to be a white _van_," The gem with lilac hair retorted, and she and the blonde shared a well-deserved high five.

Blushing a bright pink, Rose resisted the urge to fling a _fuck you_ in their general direction. She wasn't allowing herself to be so rude to them, or at least, not in front of Greg. "Blah, blah, I'm not letting your stupid commentary to get to me. I'm meeting with my friend, no matter what the heck you want to imply." She knew she couldn't keep this state of denial for her own good, but she wasn't about to reflect on it and blatantly admit he liked it… if only just a little. She flicked her curls and walked to the temple door, taking a second to make sure everything in her outfit was on point, before magically opening it with her gem.

Greg was reclined on the wall, right next to the door. He smiled to her as smugly as he could manage. "Hey there, lady," he saluted. "So, we meet again."

Rose couldn't hold back her beaming. "Hello, Greg," she said, finding it incredible how, in a month and a half or so of meetings, she had managed to reduce her awkwardness around the man and his fellow humans in a surprisingly effective way.

"Ma'am," he said, lowering his glasses slightly. "I'm going to need that you follow me to my van."

The gem nodded. She turned around one last second. "Greg is here!" she yelled to the temple. "I'm leaving now. See you all later."

Three responses echoed back to her location. One was a mere _Goodbye_, the other, _Have a nice outing_, and the last one, _Good luck on your date, man_.

Her eyelids lowered gently, her mind making an appointment to beat Amethyst unconscious upon her return.

"So," she said, her attention focusing back on the young man, giggling schoolgirl joy filling her. "Where are we going tonight?"

Greg put his index finger on his lips. "Afraid I can't tell, ma'am," was his vague response. "You're going to have to come with me if you wanna see it."

"Is it a surprise?" The gem felt giddy. She knew humans had a habit of planning nice things behind each other's backs, and feeling involved in it was something new.

"It may be," He responded, keeping up an aura of mystery. "Like I said, you ain't finding out until we get there." He put his hands in his jacket pockets and began walking to the van, a silent invitation to follow ingrained in the motion.

Still feeling butterflies, Rose obediently followed.

She made herself comfortable in the now familiar van. He had come to pick her up for concerts many times now, sometimes with as much as three hours of anticipation, to make sure she had the best seat. She fastened her seatbelt, and he started the van.

Much to her surprise, he wasn't very conversational for the length of the ride. His fingers drummed on the stirring wheel with relative frequency, and his eyes avoided her. Was he nervous? Why was he nervous? Rose wondered if he had somehow caught up with her alien ways, or if his discomfort was related to her in any way. It served as a harsh reminder of the truth that eluded her when they were together: They were different in more ways than one, the breach between species much bigger than just the presence or absence of a gemstone.

"So, can you tell me _now_ where you're taking me?" She said, trying to soothe his uneasiness. It drew a parallel to their meeting, in which it had been him who tried to get over her obvious awkwardness. It was almost funny, in a way. The memory drew a smirk from her.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid that's classified information," he said. Now, he was smiling. His fingers tightened their grip on the steering wheel for a second, then let go.

"Come on! At least one little hint?" she poked him with his elbow, and he laughed, protecting his sides with a hand.

"Okay, okay, I'm dropping a heavy one here. It's got to do with the band."

"Is it… A concert?" She suggested, trying to play a guessing game with him, anything to catch on with his plans.

"Maybe," was his answer, vague as it had been all night.

"You didn't tell me about your next gig last time we met. I had no idea you had a concert today."

He just put his index on his lips again.

"Does this mean it is a _special_ concert?" She insisted.

"Look," he laughed. "You just keep trying, babe, but I'm not gonna spill the beans. Can't you deal with a little waiting until we get there? Pretty sure you've had to wait for other things longer." He turned to look at her for a split second before returning his eyes to the road. "We're even almost there. Gimme five. Five minutes and you'll know."

"You know I'm just going to count loudly to sixty five times," she joked.

And despite her promise, she stayed silent, expectant, for the rest of the ride.

The van finally parked in front of a garage lit with a single lightbulb. Junk riled up and framed the room, lined up in boxes and bags through all the perimeter. The band was settled in the middle, instruments ready.

"Here we are, babe," he said. She wondered exactly _where_ was _here_. There seemed to be a lot of other garages nearby, and no homes. Some kind of… Storage complex? She didn't fully understand some facets of humanity just yet.

She stepped out of the van. Greg, oddly enough, didn't join his usual place in the band.

"What is this?" she naïvely asked. "Some sort of concert for one?" The concept of shows for one escaped her. Why not share the beauty of music with a lot of people?

"This is a special show I planned with the guys," Greg answered. He was smiling from ear to ear. "I don't sing on it, but just because I wanted to see it with you."

"Sit where?" There were no chairs, no stools, no steps in which to sit.

"Just sit with me here in the van," he said, taking his place in the hood and patting a spot next to him. She obeyed, shuffling around and making herself comfortable.

"All ready?" The singer asked. The men and women around her grabbed some microphones and their corresponding instruments.

Greg gave the band a thumbs-up, and the singer smiled to him, in the same way Amethyst smiled to Rose when she was teasing her. The gem found it odd, how Greg seemed to have his personal Amethyst. _The world is just filled with Amethysts for everyone_, she thought.

The singer cleared her throat and ran a hand through her small black afro. "And now, Mr. Universe and his band make a special show for a special someone. Welcome, this show is called _Songs for Rose Quartz_," she said, and she _winked_, and Rose's face began to flare up, because yes, this was a concert for one, it was a concert for _her_.

The singer made a _one, two, three, four_ signal with her fingers, and a simple guitar riff began, soon followed by the bass, which was, in turn, followed afterwards by a single, steady beat.

The singer smiled, and her voice kicked in, smooth like silk.

_Imagine me and you_

_I do _

_I think about you day and night_

_It's only right_

_To think about the girl you love_

_And hold her tight_

_So happy together_

_No_, Rose thought. _This is impossible_. She smiled, and that smile grew steady as the lyrics flowed, and soon enough, she was laughing. Of course it wasn't just some regular concert. Greg had planned a concert full of love songs… And they were all for her.

The chorus kicked in, and she couldn't help a gleeful beam. She thought of the effort it must have been to convince his bandmates, to arrange the songs, to get them to play backup vocals. It came out flawlessly, in the end.

Of course, she would call him out on picking the most clichéd, overused love songs for their private gig.

But for now, she couldn't help but enjoy it.

She turned to look at Greg, and he was beaming, too, with the same innocent joy she felt poured from every pore in her body. He had put his sunglasses up and she could see his sparkly eyes, the shine them and his smile added to the faint light of the single lightbulb.

She couldn't hold it back anymore, nor could she convince herself against it.

She really, really liked this man.

In fact, she could kiss him just right now. The fact that they were of different species, the thousand-year age gap, the breach between their customs and their background, it could all go to the garbage. She liked him a lot. It was as simple as that.

Instead of kissing him, she spoke. "_So happy together_? Really?"

He laughed. "What else can I do, Rose? I tried to not fall for it, but I mean, nothing can drive the point home better than the classics, you know? It's why they're classics."

The corners of her mouth hurt from the smiling, but she couldn't help it. "I don't mind that it's cheesy, you know? I love it. I love cheesy. You should've known right now already."

He winked. "Why else do you think I chose these especially for you?"

She shook her head. "Greg, this is the best thing ever."

He put his arm around her waist, and the warmth sent electricity through all her body. Electricity of the best kind, though. She scooted closer to him, and he laid his head on her shoulder, being that she was the taller one.

She sang along to every single song. At one point, during The Cure's _Lovesong_, she went into the van to search for a match to light and wave her arms to. Greg just laughed and joined in. This was their night.

"Don't you think it's too soon to say you'll love me always?" She asked. If there was something her relationships with humans had taught, it was that there was no word more devoid of meaning than _forever_. "We have only known each other for something more than a month."

"Maybe it is," he said. "But hey, I couldn't find any song about just having a crush, and the deadline was getting closer, and I just needed to have this ready for you, you know?"

"It must have been crazy. Balancing your gigs with this stuff."

"Oh, yeah, man, I lived off energy drinks and coffee, and paid everyone extra, 'cept from some friends who wanted me to impress you. The little shits."

A belly laugh from the gem followed this statement. "You don't even understand how much _my_ pals have bothered me about you."

"What do they say?"

"Oh, the regular stuff, man. You know, about you being prince charming, and how much I like you and all that stuff."

His smile wavered for a second, his face letting some insecurity slip through. "And… how right are they? You know? About…?"

He couldn't finish the sentence.

But that didn't mean Rose couldn't answer. "What do you think, dummy?" She teased.

Slowly, she leaned, and pecked him on the cheek, leaving a lipstick mark behind. "Oh boy," she said, "now all the girls at your gigs will know and they'll be mad."

His face was beet red, and for a second, she caught, out of the corner of her eye, the singer beaming. "Oh," he said, "I guess that's gonna get me in trouble, but they'll have to know I'm taken. Am I? Am I taken?"

She found his insecurity hilarious at this point. "Consider yourself totally taken now," was her answer. "Or, at least dating someone." She wiped the mark she had left with her thumb.

"Who knows?" He asked, looking up at the starry sky. "Maybe those songs ain't so full of bullshit."

"We'll have to wait and see," she said, her hand gently stretching towards his, slowly tangling his fingers with her own.

* * *

><p>She wasn't surprised to see her fellow Gems still hanging around when she returned. There was no doubt they had, at the very least, gathered again to receive her.<p>

"Oh, man," was what she said, even without a _hello_. "I'm in so deep now."

Garnet painfully fought against it, but the corners of her lips still slowly pointed up. Amethyst's trademark teasing smirk was settling in comfortably, and Pearl smugly reclined against Garnet's shoulders, waiting for her to admit it.

"Okay, so maybe I like the human," she admitted, scratching the back of her curly head. "But I mean, he made a show for me! A show full of cheesy love songs. You know how I love that stuff."

"Dude, I think you liked him way before the show," Amethyst said, a _that's so obvious_ face complimenting her comment. "But I'm glad at least you settled down."

Rose lowered her head, laughing. "Is it that obvious?"

The three Gems nodded. "Yes, as someone who has settled down—" Garnet cleared her throat at the comment. "I just know when someone else has. You know? That obvious joy, those nervous hands, that incontrollable smile. Being giddy is just part of it. Isn't it right, Garnet?" She poked the dark gem with her elbow.

Garnet hid her smirk with her hand, remembering her own inability to stay still and excessive training when she was giddy. "Pearl is right," was all she said, even if her slightly lowered face, hidden smirk, and arm firmly settled around the pastel gem's shoulder said so much more.

Rose sat down and covered her face with her palms. "we even just kissed at the doorway and stuff."

"Oh! First kiss!" the blonde gem said, clapping her hands together. "Oh, the first kiss is always a wonderful memory. How was it?"

Rose looked up at the crystal roof dreamily. "It was divine," she said, sighing.

"Oh, man, now I'm the only one who's single and ready to mingle. I'm so bummed," Amethyst said, flopping on her belly and waving her legs around. "And now I'll have to deal with twice the corny stuff. Man, like Garnet and Pearl weren't enough." She eyed the two gems.

The rouge gem slipped her shades up uneasily. "We are not corny."

"That's what you think," the purple gem shot, right before falling in a fit of laughter.

Garnet turned to Pearl. "We ought to be less corny."

The pastel gem laughed. "Don't pay attention to that idiot. We'll be as corny as we wish."

"But, I mean," Rose interrupted. "It's not like… I'm not _too_ in love with him. Not like I start my morning wondering what he's up to or think about him all the time or that stuff. He's just… charming."

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow to test that theory," Pearl said, lazily flicking a finger through the taller gem's fro.

* * *

><p>It was dawning, and Rose walked through the beach, feeling the breeze and the sand, taking in the utter beauty of the pink rays as the sun shyly peeked from afar. She stretched, feeling renewed. The morning was the start of another moment of activity— She seemed to feel energized in par with humans.<p>

Her eyes explored the shapes of the clouds, the transformation of colors, the transition between the darkness and the light; the gentle motion of the star of this solar system as it began to graze this side of Earth—

_I wonder what Greg will do today_.

Her face lowered. She wiggled her toes, burying them in the sand. _Well, damn it._

* * *

><p><strong>Final AN: D'awwww, Greg and Rose fluff. The Steven Universe fandom seriously lacks some material for these two, so I tried to fill the void. I hope you enjoyed! Like I said, the moods and chronological order may vary.  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Welp, anothwer oneshot! I promise to veer the focus away from Greg and Rose in some of these eventually, but seriously, after the new episode, how can you not want Greg and Rose? **

**I am on a trip to London right now, which I guess pretty much explains why I couldn't sit down and write. I eventually have to write a chapter for that other multichapter fanfic I was making...**

**So excuse if chapters are slow. I write these in my free time.**

**Also please, if there are things you would like to see in oneshots, please drop them in a review! I need ideas to keep the train rollin', you know.**

* * *

><p>Deep, black eyes met directly with an amber eye and an eye that was a gemstone. The massive feline-like gem was hissing, stiff, yet delicate fibers of stone in its back making it alike to the hair that stood up on end on a cat's back. The odd resemblance to an actual, living animal on Earth was strange to her, <em>especially<em> considering how fond she was of cats. Lions, tigers, all big cats, little house cats, you name it, she loved them all.

Too bad this was no actual cat, but a corrupted Cat's Eye.

They were too close, perhaps, or so Pearl's yells of warning seemed to imply. The muscles of her legs were tense. The muscles of her back were stiff. The muscles of her arms, rock hard. There was not a single millimeter of her that wasn't ready to pounce on the gem that had ruined her date.

If only they had been able to subvert it before returning from that mission. If only they had known that Cymophane knew how to use a warp pad.

While the beast growled and hissed, she jumped. The ground trembled when she left the floor, a loud thunder accompanying the motion. She landed straight atop the huge feline beast, right behind its head, and she lifted her sword, ready to impale it in its skull. The giant cat was shaking, and her power thighs were in pain because of the strength it took to not be thrown across twenty feet by its powerful muscles.

She didn't even know when the words left her mouth. "**_You piece of shit!_**_" _

And, when she wasn't consumed by anger and regained her consciousness, the pink sword was encrusted in the beast's head. Crunching, fleshy noises reached her ears as the sword trailed down, though those sounds were deafened by the loud screeching of the monster as it reached its final moments.

Her curls were flung back by the air and sparkly smoke that came with the explosion of the beast, the Cymophane in its eye socket popping and landing with a thud in the sand below.

"Yeah!" She celebrated, lifting the sword, ignoring the throbbing pain in her thighs, the sweat stuck in her forehead. "We did it!"

She lifted the Cymophane. The stone fit snugly in the palms of her hands. With one swift motion, it was in a pastel pink bubble.

The other members of the Crystal Gems had reached her. Garnet had sand stuck in her 'fro. Pearl had a few bruises and burns from sand friction. She tried to wipe the sand off Garnet's hair. Amethyst was limping, wincing with each step.

"Oh, Cymophane." Rose said to the bubbled gem. "How could I know you'd end up like this?" She shook her head in sadness, the thrill dying down as she realized _who_ this used to be.

Garnet put a hand in her shoulder, a hilarious gesture, bearing in mind she was _shorter_ than Rose. The gem with the pink mane turned to look at her companion. All Rose saw was the impenetrable shades, but she understood. She nodded just slightly, and swishing her hands, the bubble was gone in a flash of sparkles, teleported to its safe haven in the temple.

Rose turned around, and it was _then_ that realization hit.

Still in the beachside restaurant, Greg stood, mouth wide open, eyes huge, limbs limp.

_Oh, shit,_ Rose thought.

She took a few tentative steps towards the man, her eyes filling with fear and sorrow. The man gave a few steps back, his forearms lifting to the front of his face in a defensive maneuver.

She smiled, uneasily as could be. Her right hand lifted to her wild pink curls. She was sweating cold.

"Um, Greg… I think we need to talk."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry," she pleaded, crouching so he was taller than her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."<p>

Greg looked around the room. There were pink clouds everywhere. A serene aura filled the air.

But Rose knew it wouldn't help his anger.

"No. No. You _fucked up real bad_," he said, staring at her with a mix of fear and anger. "I want an explanation right now, man. Who the hell are you? What the hell happened? Who the hell am I dating?"

The gem breathed. She didn't know she could feel this nervous about a feeble human… She did not know the prospect of losing him to who she was could hurt so bad.

She had forgotten what it was to fall over a human, but most importantly—She had never fallen for a human _this_ hard.

She licked her lips. "I… I don't know where to start, Greg," she mumbled, overwhelmed by her fifteen thousand years of history, by the different culture she initially belonged to, by her travels around space.

"Well you better damn find a place to start, because I'm not saying another word to you until I get a goddamn explanation," he said, looking down in what Rose guessed was disappointment and mistrust. Her heart ached… Or, more accurately to her anatomy, her gemstone felt a twinge of pain.

She gulped. "Well, I, um…"

She bit her lower lip. She avoided eye contact at all costs.

"I'm not human, Greg."

He lifted his gaze to look at her. "Yeah, I can pretty damn well realize that," he said, but his sarcasm fell flat. He sighed. "Humans don't get swords out of nowhere. Humans can't make fucking bubbles or shit with their hands, or whatever."

Rose twiddled her index fingers, looking down at the fluffy clouds below her bare feet. She knew the potty mouth only emphasized how cross he was with her.

The man had curled into a ball, arms crossed above his knees, his chin resting in his forearms. "_What_ are you, Rose?" He asked.

"I'm a Crystal Gem," she answered. It was surprisingly easy to say.

"Okay. And what in the hell is a Crystal Gem?"

She took a minute to try and compose a concrete answer, but there was such an extensive history, such a difference in biology, such a distinctive breach between species that she couldn't compact it in a simple sentence.

"I… My body is not real. I am…" she tried to phrase it as best as she could. "I truly am the gemstone you see in my abdomen. My body is just a vehicle to traverse this Earth and other planets… I used the…" she could explain what it was later. "The Galaxy Warp to move through many planets owned by my kind.

"My default form just seems to be really similar to the form of human females. The real me is just my gem… I haven't always been on this Earth, nor have my friends. We have only been here… for about…"

Greg was looking at her. She could read the _How long? _Written in his gaze, aside of pent up anger and fear.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "for about a thousand years or so."

Greg groaned. His face was buried in his palms. "So what you're telling me is that I'm dating an old-ass rock alien thing." He ran his hands through his hair. "Do you… honestly expect me to believe all this bullshit, Rose? I just…"

She waited while he absorbed the shock. Humans were way easier to convince back before science existed, but it was always new… to every partner she had.

Except for some reason, Greg's look of mad disbelief seemed to hurt _more_.

"I did see you summon a huge-ass sword and a bubble thing…"

There were a few seconds of silence.

"How old are you, Rose?" he asked, resigning himself to this bizarre fate.

The gem avoided eye contact as she shot the answer. "Around fifteen thousand years or so."

"Just the age gap," Greg said, and he laughed bitterly. "I really don't want to believe this, but…" He seemed in such distress his sorrow poured straight out of his heart and into Rose's gemstone. "I mean, I don't know what to believe anymore, man."

"Greg, I…" She needed a way to phrase it delicately. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this earlier, but I mean, how could you… How did you expect me to tell it to you… And for you to believe me?"

"Rose," he retorted. Heartbreak doused that single word. "I think if you're gonna date someone, the first thing you gotta tell them is you're a goddamn alien."

They both giggled, though it was an empty laugh.

"There are… A lot of things for me to explain to you," she said. The least she could do now was give him proper information. "I don't think I can cover it all up in one day, but I mean… I can tell you the basics."

Greg shrugged. "How weirder can it get?"

* * *

><p>"What happened to him?" Pearl asked, staring at the human standing on the beach. The sun was setting, and the view of his silhouette against the pinks and reds of the sunset was actually quite artistic.<p>

Garnet looked at the man, then turned back to Pearl. "Rose gave him the talk."

Pearl shook her head. "Rose should give up on humans already. She can save herself all this trouble." She sat next to Garnet, imitating the taller gem's lotus sitting position. She must have recently meditating or something alike. She said she found the beach and its sounds soothing, and who was Pearl to contradict her?

Garnet noticed the pastel gem was wearing jean shorts, and the orange light of the sunset reflected from her legs in a beautiful way. Her shoulders did the slightest shrug. "We have no power over what Rose decides." She flashed a tiny smile towards Pearl, one of those microscopic smirks she did just for her. "And sometimes, it's fun to see her get in weird human trouble."

The blonde turned to face her. Garnet's grin was widening. "You mean like, that one time at the bar?" She covered her mouth with a slender hand. "You know, the day she met the human? Garnet! I had no idea you were like that!"

The rouge gem was trying to force her smile out of the way, but it was impossible. Her hand grabbed Pearl's, the other, free hand pressing an index finger to the pale lips of her gemfriend. "But don't ever tell Rose that." There was a bit of silence. "Or Amethyst. I have to be the serious leader."

Pearl laughed. "Why do you have to be the serious leader?" she asked, her lips brushing against the long finger.

The one hand pressing against her mouth moved to Garnet's waist. "I am the only sane one among us four," she said. She balled her hand into a fist and pressed it against the palm of her other hand. "I have to keep you in line."

Pearl cackled. Garnet turned to look at the human again, blushing. "I have spoken enough today."

Just then, the temple door opened behind them, and Rose walked out, visibly distressed, wearing jean shorts not unlike Pearl's and a white tank top. She leaped off the temple entrance and walked to the beach, towards the human.

"They've had a rough day," Pearl said, her hand landing in Garnet's arm.

The rouge gem just nodded.

Rose stood next to Greg in awkward silence. This was something she didn't want to have to tell him. "Greg," she called, her eyes finding a sudden spectacular engagement in the waves crashing against her feet and how they ruffled the sand.

The man just hummed, but that was enough of a sign for the rosy gem. "Listen… I know today was rough. I just have to tell you…"

The man turned to face her. His eyes sparkled orange from the light of the setting sun, and Rose felt something surge deep from her gem and spread around her body, that one special warmth she knew she felt whenever he was around.

And feeling it right now, when she was intending to say goodbye, it _hurt_.

She looked down, trying to avoid his beautiful dark eyes. "Listen, if you don't want to see me anymore after all of this… I get it." She felt her throat tie into knots "I get it. The age gap, and how we're different, and all that. I have lost many humans to that explanation. I won't make you stay with me.

"I'll find another human… Maybe then they'll leave me. And if we're together enough, they'll die." She saw him cringe slightly. "The point is, it's okay. You can leave me."

That said, she turned around and walked slowly to the temple, ready to face the impending sadness of lost romance. And oh, how she knew she would mourn this man.

She heard him scream from the beach, "Let me think about all this."

But she knew she couldn't bring her hopes up.

* * *

><p>Greg didn't return for a week.<p>

* * *

><p>They were all together in Rose's room. Garnet and Pearl were just resting after a heavy, if fun, session of training; and they awaited their turn to be pampered by Rose's hands, who were currently busy trying the newest hairdo of the hair magazine on a lazy Amethyst… Who, obviously, complained about the lengthy process.<p>

Rose had isolated herself the day after the incident, but she soon enough opened herself to the other gems and had invited them to spend some time with her, if only to ease her nagging thoughts a bit. She had found a nice enough consolation in the company of her life partners, her best friends.

That was, when the familiar echo of someone banging the entrance to the temple boomed all over the room.

"Who do you think that is? No other human would have to come here ever since…" Rose said. She didn't complete the sentence, but her gem was already pulsing with heat at the prospect of it being him.

"Oh boy," Amethyst said. "I think it might be your man, Rose." She poked the tallest gem with her elbow. She winked. _Go check the door_ was written all over that wink.

The rosy gem turned to her other two companions. They were both smiling.

She summoned the temple door, tensing up with expectation. Her gem glowed, matching her tip in the door's star. The door opened…

And there he was.

Rose felt herself choking, even if choking wasn't really a _thing _in her species.

Warmth still wrapped her like a blanket— She definitely wasn't over him, she could still feel love radiate from her every pore.

"Hello," she said. Her voice was throaty and soft, almost caught up on its way out.

"Hey, Rose," he said, scratching the back of his head and kicking the floor just slightly. "I guess… You don't mind me going in for a sec'? I kinda need to tell you something… About that thing, last week." He was as bashful as she was. They were both adults, and here they were, acting like shy children. It marveled her.

"Come in," she droned, her feet feeling like they floated on the floor of the temple.

The man stepped in nervously, noticing the three other _aliens_ in the room, who stared at him in a mix of curiosity and expectation.

The door vanished, and here they were, avoiding eye contact and fiddling bashfully.

He cleared his throat. "Listen, Rose, I've been thinking a lot since last week," he started formally, finally looking at her. "And…"

There were a few seconds of silence. Expectation heaved in the atmosphere.

"Oh, screw this crap," Greg groaned, breaking all formality. "Rose, I've been really freaking sad since that day. I've talked to a lot of my friends of the band and I've been drinking like there's no tomorrow. I realized…"

He blinked slowly. His hands gestured like crazy, dotting and exaggerating all his words. "Rose, I don't give a single shit if you're an actual gemstone or if you came from outer space or if you're eons old… Or if you can't die unless your gem is cracked, et cetera, et cetera." His words were rushing, coming out of his mouth without order, without revision. "I like you, man. I like you a lot. I like you more than any girl I've dated, and you're not even technically a _girl_,…" he took a deep breath.

"The point is, I don't care, Rose." His hands were sweating cold as they wrapped those of a shocked Rose Quartz. "It was a shock and I'm still surprised, but man, I like you more than that, than anyone else. You're the coolest gem alien genderless thing I have ever met. Please don't leave me." He pressed the delicate, if big, hands even further. His eyes dug into Rose's. "I know we haven't known each other for that long but… Do you ever just know when you've met someone really special?"

Rose nodded. Her eyes were watered up. She leaned down, just a little, and he stood on tippy toes, and Rose savored the strange, alive warmth of his lips again, joy exploding inside her.

Amethyst chimed in, breaking the emotional moment. "So, does this mean you will date the alien?" she screamed, making her hands into a megaphone.

Garnet and Pearl shushed her angrily. Greg laughed. "Sure thing, I'm totally dating the alien."

Rose screamed in joy, lifting him and spinning him around, to which he yelped in surprise. She was laughing, and he laughed too.

* * *

><p>"Don't worry, man," Amethyst said. Her hairdo had been neglected by Rose among her joy, and her mane was back to its usual, wild form. They were now sitting in the beach, taking a few celebratory drinks. "We're the cool brand of alien. We won't abduct you to experiment with you or that stuff."<p>

"Or maybe we will," Pearl added, flashing him a grin.

"Yes," Garnet said, perfectly serious. "We do not know much about the human race, after all."

Greg's eyes widened in fear. Rose interrupted, flailing her arms towards the other gems. "Don't be jerks, guys! Don't scare the nice human!" she yelled. "Don't mind them, Greg, they're just messing around."

He laughed, though, unbeknownst to the gems, he was in fact secretly relieved.

* * *

><p><strong>Final AN: This is THE cheesiest thing I have written in my entire life, but the new episode messed with my mind. Enjoy your corniness. This is cornier than actual corn.**

**Don't forget to drop a review! Fanfickers live of those, you know.**


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